A puncture assistance system provides information on a collapse state of a blood vessel to be punctured, caused by pressing action of an ultrasonic probe, when ultrasonic images of the blood vessel are acquired. A puncture assistance system 10 includes: vascular diameter detecting means 18 for detecting a vascular diameter during acquisition of the ultrasonic images from an ultrasonic diagnostic device 11; puncture assistance information generating means 12 for generating puncture assistance information for determination of whether or not puncture is allowed to be performed based on a collapse state of a blood vessel B caused by pressing action of an ultrasonic probe 15 against skin S by comparing a current vascular diameter detected by the vascular diameter detecting means 18 with a standard vascular diameter stored in advance; and a monitor 19 that presents the puncture assistance information.

An imaging system may include an imaging detector to capture an image of human tissue and a compression paddle situated apart from the imaging detector to compress the human tissue between the compression paddle and the imaging detector. A force sensor may generate a force signal indicating a measure of force applied superior to the human tissue. A movement detection circuit may filter a movement signal from the force signal indicating a measure of movement of the compressed human tissue. A movement analysis module may determine that the movement signal is beyond a movement threshold. An image correction module to perform a corrective action based upon the determination that the movement signal is beyond a movement threshold.

An ultrasound diagnostic apparatus (1), which performs a compression test with respect to at least two points of a popliteal vein and a common femoral vein of a subject, includes an ultrasound probe (15), an image acquisition unit (8) that acquires an ultrasound image by transmitting an ultrasound beam toward the subject from the ultrasound probe (15), a vein detection unit (9) that detects the popliteal vein included in the ultrasound image, and an operation guiding unit (10) that guides a user, in a case where the compression test of the popliteal vein is performed, to operate the ultrasound probe such that the ultrasound probe (15) is positioned at a position in which only one popliteal vein is included in the ultrasound image based on the number of the popliteal veins detected by the vein detection unit (9).

The technology relates to a methods and systems for improving medical imaging procedures. An example method includes receiving a first set of quality metrics for a plurality of medical images acquired at a first imaging facility; receiving a second set of quality metrics for a second plurality of medical images acquired at a second imaging facility; comparing the first set of quality metrics to the second set of quality metrics; based on the comparison of the first set of quality metrics to the second set of quality metrics, generating a benchmark for at least one metric in the first set of quality metrics and the second set of quality metrics; generating facility data based on the generated benchmark and the first set of quality metrics; and sending the facility data to the first imaging facility.

A method and system acquiring, processing and displaying breast ultrasound images in a way that makes breast ultrasound screening more practical and thus more widely used, and reduces the occurrence of missing cancers in screening and diagnosis, using automated scanning of chestwardly compressed breasts with ultrasound. Enhanced, whole-breast navigator overview images are produced from scanning breasts with ultrasound that emphasize abnormalities in the breast while excluding obscuring influences of non-breast structures, particularly those external to the breast such as ribs and chest wall, and differentiating between likely malignant and likely benign abnormalities and otherwise enhancing the navigator overview image and other images, thereby reducing the time to read, screen, and/or diagnose to practical time limits and also reduce screening or diagnostic errors.

An imaging member including: a pressing member that presses a breast of a subject; and an ultrasonography member that has a first surface on which an acoustic matching member having fluidity is provided, and is provided such that a second surface on a side opposite to the first surface is provided on a surface of the pressing member, which is on a side opposite to a surface that comes into contact with the breast, via a coupling material having lower fluidity than the acoustic matching member.

Arrangements described herein relate to a headset. The headset includes a device. The device includes a transducer configured to interact with a head of a subject. The headset further includes a manually-operated registration system configured to delineate a workspace of the transducer at the head of the subject.

Arrangements described herein relate to a headset. The headset includes a device. The device includes a transducer configured to interact with a head of a subject. The headset further includes a manually-operated registration system configured to delineate a workspace of the transducer at the head of the subject.

Provided in the present application is an ultrasonic probe, including: an ultrasonic transducer configured to send/receive an ultrasonic signal; a housing including a top plate and a side wall that collectively define a cavity with an opening located below the cavity, wherein a top portion of the ultrasonic transducer is configured to be accommodated in the cavity via the opening; and an elastic element accommodated in the cavity, the elastic element being connected to the top portion of the ultrasonic transducer and the top plate of the housing, and the elastic element being configured to provide an elastic force to the ultrasonic transducer to enable part of the ultrasonic transducer to retract and spring back within the cavity. Further provided in the present application are a scanning assembly including the ultrasonic probe and an ultrasonic imaging device including the scanning assembly.

A method and apparatus for dual mode imaging uses an ultrasonic detection device, a diffuse optical tomography (DOT) detection device for imaging a breast. The DOT detection device is configured to detect changes of tissue blood oxygen. A host machine in communication with the ultrasonic detection device and the DOT detection device is used for imaging the breast by simultaneously generating functional images and structural information images of the breast based on the imaging.